NEW YORK -- The Giants' decision-makers believed that the club needed a jolt after losing 29 of its previous 45 games, many of which featured meager offense.

So San Francisco reached into the Minors -- a little more deeply than might be expected -- to change the scenery Friday.

The Giants purchased the contracts of infielder Matt Duffy and outfielder Jarrett Parker from Double-A Richmond while clearing roster room by designating second baseman Dan Uggla and outfielder Tyler Colvin for assignment.

With first baseman Brandon Belt (concussion) and center fielder Angel Pagan (back) likely to return soon from their respective ailments, either Duffy or Parker could return to the Minors shortly.

But Duffy and Parker pique genuine interest within the organization. And promoting players from Double-A is hardly unique for the Giants, who did it with third baseman Pablo Sandoval (2008), outfielder Darren Ford (August 2010) and left-hander Eric Surkamp (August 2011).

Duffy, 23, hit .332 with a .398 on-base percentage in 97 games at Richmond.

"He's got a base-hit bat," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said of Duffy, a right-handed hitter who started Friday night's series opener at second base. Manager Bruce Bochy said that Duffy would platoon with lefty-swinging Joe Panik.

Both thought that they were about to be sent packing Thursday morning when Richmond manager Russ Morman ordered them not to board the team bus to Altoona, Pa. The non-waiver Trade Deadline was just a few hours away, and either could have been included in a multiple-player deal. Assistant general manager Bobby Evans called them about 20 minutes after the Deadline passed with the happy news they least expected.

The reality of spending their first day as Major Leaguers in the nation's biggest city had just begun to dawn on Duffy and Parker as game time approached.

"It's not the Super 8 in Altoona," Parker said.

Bochy dispelled the notion that the Giants, who entered Friday having lost ground to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West race in seven of the previous eight days, had begun looking more toward 2015 by promoting Double-A performers.

Bochy said that he, Sabean and the rest of the club's brain trust conducted plenty of discussions about the team recently, mainly due to Thursday's Trade Deadline.

"I assure you there has not been one talk about 2015," Bochy said.

Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Haft-Baked Ideas, and follow him on Twitter at @sfgiantsbeat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.